What's Happening: Single-family home sales increase in May

Edmonton's housing market continues to demonstrate signs of stability. Unit sales for single-family detached homes were up 19.3 per cent from April and up 3.8 per cent year-over-year, with 1,119 homes selling in May across the Edmonton census metropolitan area. Unit sales of duplexes and rowhouses increased 37.2 per cent over April and 23.03 per cent over May 2015, with 203 units sold in the month.

Ryan Garner

Updated: June 11, 2016

Single-family detached home sales increased 19.3 per cent from April and up 3.8 per cent year-over-year, with 1,119 homes selling in May across the Edmonton census metropolitan area.Bill Mah / Edmonton Journal

Edmonton’s housing market continues to demonstrate signs of stability. Unit sales for single-family detached homes were up 19.3 per cent from April and up 3.8 per cent year-over-year, with 1,119 homes selling in May across the Edmonton census metropolitan area.

Unit sales of duplexes and rowhouses increased 37.2 per cent over April and 23.03 per cent over May 2015, with 203 units sold in the month. Condo sales were up 5.3 per cent month-over-month, but down 18.2 per cent year-over-year. All-residential sales at 1,771 were up more than 18 per cent from April, down less than 1 per cent compared to May of last year.

“Consumer confidence amongst home buyers in Edmonton and surrounding areas remains strong and is reflected by increased unit sales in the single family detached and duplex/rowhouse categories,” said Steve Sedgwick, Realtors Association of Edmonton chair, in a press release. “Relative to other markets in Alberta, Edmonton’s resale housing market is solid.”

Total new listings were down less than 1 per cent relative to last month and 2.5 per cent compared to May 2015, with 3,233 new properties coming onto the market in May. The sales-to-listing ratio for single family detached homes was 61 per cent for May 2016, up 10 per cent from April and on par with May 2015.

The sales-to-listing ratio for duplex/rowhouses was 73 per cent, down 13 per cent from May 2015 but up 22 per cent from last month. Condo properties are entering a buyer’s market, with a 40 per cent sales-to-listing ratio, up 2 per cent from last month, but down 13 per cent from last year.

The average single family detached home in the Edmonton CMA sold for $440,573 in May, virtually on par with April’s average price of $439,982, but down almost 3 per cent compared to the average price of $453,748 in May 2015. Average condo prices at $254,555 are up over 1 per cent month-over-month, and almost flat to last year. Duplex/rowhouse average prices increased compared to both the previous month and May 2015, up 3 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.

“While new listings coming onto the market were down this May compared to 2015, inventory continues to remain strong with more than 8,000 residential properties on the market at month’s end,” Sedgwick said. “The fact that we haven’t seen a significant decline in prices is giving buyers more assurance. They are making purchases based on market stability and good selection.”

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Edmonton housing starts take a dip

Housing starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area were trending at 10,052 units in May, compared to 11,809 in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of total housing starts.

“The trend in total housing starts declined in May as the pace of the both single-detached and multi-unit housing starts moved lower,” said Christina Butchart, CMHC’s principal, market analysis for Edmonton, in a press release. “Elevated inventory in both segments of the market are contributing to the slower pace of construction.”

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

The standalone monthly SAAR was 9,773 units in May, down from 13,563 in April. Actual housing starts decreased 33 per cent year-over-year in May, as both single-detached and multi-unit construction posted declines.

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